FDA Recognizes MITA for Work on Reducing CT Radiation Doses

The work of the Medical Imaging & Technology Alliance (MITA) on CT imaging radiation safety instructional materials has earned it the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH) Director’s Special Citation Award. The instructional materials were developed by the American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM) led Computed Tomography (CT) Nomenclature Working Group in collaboration with the FDA, CT manufacturers and end users. “As a long-time partner with AAPM on initiatives to promote the safe and effective use of medical imaging equipment, MITA is honored to receive this prestigious award from the FDA,” said Gail Rodriguez, Executive Director of MITA, in a statement. “We look forward to ongoing collaboration with AAPM, the FDA and other stakeholders to continue building upon our work to optimize radiation dose within CT technologies.” The group’s development of consensus protocols for frequently-performed CT examinations, summarizations of the basic requirements of the exam and model-specific examples of scan and reconstruction parameters, are important safety developments. But they are not the only one. A second key component of the standardization of CT nomenclature and protocols is MITA’s CT Dose Check initiative. The alliance intends for CT Dose Check to work as a safety feature on new equipment. It will alert machine operators when a scan may exceed the facility’s pre-determined dose threshold for routine use. The CDRH plans to present the award to MITA at a ceremony on June 10. It is MITA’s second recognition from the FDA. In June 2012, MITA received the FDA’s “Leveraging/Collaboration Award” for developing a collaborative network aimed at reducing unnecessary radiation exposure from imaging exams to pediatric patients.